Acura Made a Video Game!

Acura has been producing vehicles since 1986, and has become fairly common around households ever since. With the staple slogan “Precision Crafted Performance”, drivers have come to expect some fantastic driving quality from their vehicles. Yet, opportunities to test Acura performance have become a challenge, or at least taking those opportunities without breaking laws. So Acura came up with a much different solution for that…

Acura has built a precision crafted video game for your web browser, called Beat That celebrating 30 years of Acura vehicles. Available now at https://playbeatthat.acura.com/, you can try your hand at 6 different levels featuring a variety of vehicles including the 1991 NSX, 1998 Integra Type R, 2020 RDX, the 2018 ARX-05, 2020 NSX, and finally the new Type S Concept. But the part that’s even better is that every vehicle is matched to the appropriate sub-genre of racing game that the vehicle would normally be associated with.

The starting vehicle and first level is the 1991 NSX is a straight throwback to arcade racing days; with a visual style (and red paintjob) akin to the arcade classic Outrun, level 1 is a perfect fit for the past era of the NSX. Meanwhile, the ’98 Integra Type R has a Midnight Club or Need for Speed style you’d expect on the Playstation 1, with street racing and tons of flat walls that previous gaming systems couldn’t render. The 2020 RDX is where things step up (as does the challenge), with an icy course to test the Super Handling – All-Wheel Drive and graphics you’d expect to see on a mobile game.

Then the ARX-05, Acura’s prototype racecar for Daytona, comes in with a Gran Turismo style full-track level and graphics (least what browser can provide). My personal favorite though is the NSX level, with cyberpunk style featuring 3-D neon signs and bright colors that contrast the rest of the dark, grungy scene; think of it as a style based off the movie Total Recall. Finally, the Type S Concept has a futuristic style that makes it looks like said Acura is driving through some sort of spaceship with metallic walls and tunnels made with only lights.

I’m doing more…research on Beat That, so let me know your times in the comments below, and we’ll find out who the better driver is!